Little Momo in the Big Apple
Summer Recap: Eating New York!By Simone Momoye Fujita I am a very big fan of food. In fact, some might even say I am obsessed with it. I schedule my weekend outings around gustatory adventures scattered across the city. Likewise, I often plan my lunch and dinner meals carefully in order to ensure that I can fit in the food craving(s) of the week. Food is often a delightful entrée (pun intended) to new lands and cultures, yet my very favorite meals are reminiscent of holidays, celebrations and other fun times shared with family and friends.
Culture Clashes from Coast to Coast, continuedBy Simone Momoye Fujita Part II: East Coast Style When I decided to attend college in New York, I knew there would be a period of adjustment after leaving my family and home state of California, but I did not anticipate the type of culture shock that ensued.
Culture Clashes from Coast to CoastBy Simone Momoye Fujita The Academy Award-winning 2004 film Crash was touted as a painfully honest and true-to-life portrayal of race relations in Los Angeles, but when I viewed the film, there was very little about it that resembled the city that my family has called home for several generations.
Half vs. Double: Hybrid MathematicsBy Simone Momoye Fujita My mother is Japanese American, and my father is African American. According to this equation, most would assert that this fact makes me exactly one-half Asian and one-half Black, right? I whole-heartedly disagree. When faced with an either/or dilemma, I will defiantly choose the both/and option. The sum of my parts, racially speaking, is greater than one. Let me explain:
Greetings from New York!By Simone Momoye Fujita Hello, and welcome! My name is Simone Momoye Fujita, and I will be writing a new column for Discover Nikkei entitled Little Momo in the Big Apple. This bi-monthly column will be a series of reflections upon my current and past adventures living in New York City, written from the perspective of a Nikkei, an American, an Asian American, a native Californian, a Japanese American (yonsei), a twenty-eight year old woman, and a hapa all rolled into one – me! These writings will include anecdotes, observations, and musings related to identity, culture, race relations, and Japanese American history, just to name a few. I will be connecting each article back to the Nikkei experience, and I invite you, the reader, to comment and share your own experiences and insights with the Discover Nikkei community and me. By sharing my particular perspective in this column, writing from my adopted East Coast home, I hope to shed new light on Nikkei life having experienced it within two distinct American cities (New York and Los Angeles).
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